


Promised

by ImagineYourself



Series: The Cage [11]
Category: Supernatural
Genre: Case Fic, Fluff, Happy Ending, M/M, Pranking, Tooth-Rotting Fluff, like seriously, sort of
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-03-20
Updated: 2015-03-20
Packaged: 2018-03-18 17:58:06
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,593
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3578670
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ImagineYourself/pseuds/ImagineYourself
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Series Finale. Lucifer takes to pranking Dean in his spare time before he returns to his own body.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Promised

**Author's Note:**

> Not entirely sure what possessed me to do the pranks I did but I mean I hope you enjoy them? Luce sure does.

_What do you think?_

_Hold on._

_Now?_

_Wait..._ Sam scrunched his nose for a moment, eyes trained over his shoulder and on his brother, who was starting to lower himself onto a chair at the long table in the library. _Now!_

The chair suddenly jerked back, pulled by an invisible hand, and Dean fell directly onto his ass, banging his head lightly on the edge of the table. “Son of a bitch!” he shouted, hoisting himself to his feet, hands on the table. After patting down his rear, he turned to Sam, sitting in the map room and sniggering into his hand. “Goddammit Sam! Keep your stinking angel on a leash! I'm getting real tired of this!”

Sam held his hands up in mock surrender. “Sorry, Dean!”

“Yeah, sorry my ass...” the elder Winchester grumbled. He was still mumbling to himself bitterly as he got his chair back in place.

_Should we do it again?_ Lucifer asked silently, laughter in his voice.

_Nah, let's give him a little break. Later,_ Sam replied, a smile firmly in place even as he turned back to his laptop to continue the search for a new case. It had been several days since they'd returned from their last one, a salt and burn in Texas, and Sam was itching to get out. It wasn't that he was uncomfortable in the bunker, he just couldn't shake the feeling of discomfort in general. He had put the blame on sharing his body, which he hadn't done for a long time, and even then it hadn't been such a long period. And while Sam loved Lucifer, sometimes it was a bit much.

He didn't blame the angel, though, and he mostly tried to keep those feelings to himself, not wanting Luce to feel unwanted. He was happy with Lucifer back, but he was still a bit unused to the positions they were currently forced into. And so, he'd been throwing himself into hunts, hoping to take his mind off of it and let time pass. He also just enjoyed getting outside and into the air for longer than a morning jog.

_Hang on, go back to the page you just had open,_ Lucifer mumbled, distracted. Sam pursed his lips but complied, reopening a little news blurb from Colorado. Two people had been found dead, just a mile from each other, out in the woods, each having died from the same type of snake bite. The species of the snake was unlisted though.

_You think it's something supernatural?_ Sam asked, eyes rereading the article, which was just a few short paragraphs.

_I've heard of something like this before..._

_Really? How?_

_It was a long time ago, before I fell. I remember there was some creature my father made that was never to go to earth, but somehow it escaped and ended up killing a huge population of animals._

_What happened to it?_

_I don't know. I didn't often keep up with the goings on of Earth._ Luce sounded wistful, voice quiet.

_So you think it's a case?_ Sam tried to sound upbeat, hoping to make Lucifer focus on things other than his past.

_It could be..._

Sam didn't like the vagueness in his voice, but it might be worth checking out, so he arched his back until it popped and yawned. “Hey Dean, I think I've got something.”

“Yeah?” His brother's chair scraped the floor as he pushed himself up to lumber over and down the few steps. He looked over Sam's shoulder as the younger man yawned again. “Snake bites?”

“Yep. Luce says there was some creature a long time ago that it might be.” Sam leaned his chin on one palm, scrolling down the page with one hand.

He could hear the raised brow in Dean's voice as he retorted, “Or it could just be a snake.”

“Well, it could always be just something, but I'd feel better if we checked it out.” Sam turned his best puppy dog eyes on his brother and could see the man relenting almost immediately.

With a loud and exaggerated sigh, Dean shrugged. “Fine. We'll leave in a couple hours and we can probably get there by tomorrow morning.” He turned away, presumably to go pack, but spoke over his shoulder as he left the room, “And quit it with the eyes man, you're an adult.”

Sam couldn't help but chuckle. “You love me and you know it.” Dean didn't answer but Sam already knew what he'd say. He stood up to go pack himself and yawned again, shaking his head and trying to dislodge the cobwebs in his brain. “Why am I so tired today?” he mused aloud.

_You didn't sleep much last night,_ the angel inside him said cheekily.

Grinning, Sam felt his face flush. “And whose fault is that?” He didn't need to hear it to know Luce was laughing. “Whatever, I'll sleep in the car.” And he did just that, conking out in the passenger seat almost immediately as they left the bunker behind, Castiel and Kevin safe inside.

. . .

The park rangers were confused when two journalists showed up, but they were quickly assuaged with lies of interest in documenting venomous reptiles across the nation. The head of the department, Anne, a woman with graying hair and curious eyes, offered to take the brothers backpacking the next morning, out to track down the mysterious snake. After trying to politely decline, she wouldn't take no for an answer, so Sam and Dean found themselves following a gray bun and camo backpack through the dense woods as the sun rose steadily behind them.

Sam was feeling strange. He couldn't explain it. It was almost as if several parts of himself were feeling different and opposite emotions, all competing for the lead in the front of Sam's mind. Dean glanced over his shoulder, dropping back to walk next to his brother as Anne kept moving, oblivious.

“You okay, man?” Dean asked quietly, nudging Sam's shoulder.

“Huh?” the younger brother asked ineloquently, breaking out of his stupor.

“You doin' alright? You look a little constipated, and we're a couple miles from a bathroom, unless you like poison ivy.”

Sam normally would have at least smiled at his brother's humor, but he just shook himself and blinked a few times. “Yeah, I'm fine. Just... I feel like something's up.” When he looked at Dean, his brother's brows were reaching towards his hairline.

“What, like a premonition? Man I thought we were done with those years ago.” Dean looked ahead again as he nearly tripped on the root of a tree.

Shaking his head, Sam said, “No, just... a gut feeling. It's probably nothing. Let's just keep going.”

“Alright, whatever man.” Dean picked up his pace enough to catch up with Anna, leaving Sam to his thoughts.

_Luce?_

_Hmm?_ Lucifer hummed as if he was just waking up, voice far away.

_Do you really think there's anything out here?_ The angel was quiet for a long moment, withdrawing from Sam so that his thoughts were hidden. _Lucifer?_

_Keep looking..._ he finally replied.

Sam furrowed his brow, frowning, but refocused on where he was putting his feet, glancing over at Dean and their guide every minute or so. He could vaguely hear Dean receiving a lecture on forest flora, something he was sure the older man had absolutely no interest in, but if anything could be said about Dean Winchester it was that he was a fantastic actor. The thought made Sam smile to himself for a moment, looking up to see bits of blue through the foliage above. All of a sudden, he saw something more through the trees, but he barely caught a glimpse, unable to tell what exactly it was.

“Dean? Did you see that?” Sam called out, making his brother and Anne stop to look back at him. “In the trees, something was moving.”

Craning his neck to look around about them, Dean shrugged. Anne followed his gaze but turned back to Sam to tell him, “Probably just a bird,” with a smile.

Sam was frowning again, but started walking, ignoring the part of him saying that whatever it was, it had been way too big to be a bird. They kept moving, stepping through moss and over tree trunks, not talking more than a few words at a time, Anne's voice usually breaking the silence. Before long, they came to a clearing of sorts, somewhere that looked perfect for camping, and they spread out to look around.

“This is where we found one of the victims, the other was just over a mile to the west,” Anne was saying, standing on the edge of the clearing, her hand resting on a tree. Dean was across from her, kicking at a rock with his boot, and Sam stood near the middle, looking all around the area, turning his eyes towards the sky. “If it lived around here, it's probably further—” She broke off abruptly, grunting, and both brother turned to see an empty space where she had just been standing.

“What the hell?” Dean muttered, stepping carefully closer and pulling his gun from the inside of his jacket.

Sam copied him, holding his own weapon in both hands, grip sure and eyes searching. In his mind he heard Lucifer say, _That won't help much_.

_What?_ Sam asked, moving around the clearing with slow steps.

_Sam, listen to me very carefully._

_Okay?_

_Take three steps to the right and one step back,_ Lucifer told him softly.

_What? Why?_

The angel sighed like he was rolling his eyes. _Just do it._

Reluctantly, Sam complied, standing where Luce told him to, gun still in hand. _What now?_

_Just stand there for a minute_.

“You talking to the devil?” Dean asked in a hushed tone, warily standing where Anne had been, the whole conversation with Luce having taken just seconds. “He got any bright ideas?”

Sam was about to say something when he noticed movement in the tree directly behind Dean. “Dean!” he called out in warning, watching as his brother flipped around. From the branches suddenly erupted a snake-like creature, its head as big as Sam's and body long, wrapped around the tree.

“What the—” Dean started to curse. The snake hissed at him, its mouth opening and tongue lolling out as it moved closer to him until it... licked him?

Dean took a step back, tripped over a rock, and landed on his behind, dropping his gun in the dirt and letting his breath out in an _oomph_. The snake was swinging back and forth slightly and it was, well, laughing. Its eyes bugged out like a cartoon and it was positively _shaking_ with laughter, weird hisses leaving its mouth which was stretched wide into a grin.

Lucifer was cackling within Sam's head and the younger Winchester could only send him feelings of confusion, moving to help his brother up. “Luce, what the fuck?”

“What was that?!” Dean shouted, back on his feet and looking at the tree, where the huge snake had disappeared.

“I don't know!” was all Sam could say, equally confused and alarmed.

_Sam, Sam step back quickly._ Luce's voice startled Sam into moving backwards, glancing around with wide eyes.

_What—?_ There was a rustle behind Sam, but he didn't have enough time to move before something was slithering up his leg, his back, and then the hissing was right next to his ear. Dean was staring at him with terror in his eyes, slowly and shakily trying to pull out his knife, which was strapped to his belt.

“ _Tsk, tsk,”_ came a scratchy voice beside Sam's head. _“Children shouldn't play with sharp things.”_

“Children?” Dean tried to ask in disbelief, but just then the snake moved from its perch on the younger man's shoulder, jerking its head forward, tongue sicking out, which scared Dean into throwing his weight back. Once again, there was a perfectly placed rock and this time he fell flat on his back.

Laughter echoed in the air, both from the snake, which was sliding back to the ground, and from Sam, though he was pretty sure it was actually Lucifer laughing through him.”You should have seen your face!” Lucifer exclaimed, laughing so hard he had to double Sam's body over and clutch his stomach. “That had to be the funniest thing I've seen in millennia!”

Dean was scowling as he got to his feet, brushing dirt off his ass and growling. “Lucifer! I should have known. This was all a fucking joke, wasn't it?”

Luce was still laughing, wiping tears from Sam's eyes and unable to answer for a moment. “Normally I wouldn't go this far, but I've gone further for a joke before.”

“Ugh, why is it always me?” Dean grumbled loudly, looking around and noticing the snake was gone. “What about Anne?”

“She's fine. She's over in the bushes and she won't remember a thing,” Lucifer told him, finally calming the racking laughter in his chest.

“You're such a fucking dick. Why do I put up with this?” Stomping around, the elder Winchester picked his gun back up and shoved it into his jacket.

Slowly, Sam took back control of himself, though even he was grinning. Luce's laughter was contagious in their shared body. “It's 'cause you're the best big brother,” Sam said with a smirk, patting Dean's shoulder.

“Did you know about this?”

Sam laughed. “No, but I have to admit your face was hilarious.”

Dean's face then was utterly unamused. “I'm disowning you,” he said flatly. A new bout of laughter hit Sam but he saw the barest of smiled as his brother turned away to go gather Anne so they could head back.

_You know, this was a little too far to go just for a laugh,_ Sam admonished.

_It was worth your laugh,_ the angel replied. But Sam was rolling his eyes fondly even as he moved to help out his brother.

. . .

If Dean had thought that the fun would end there, out in the Colorado forest, he was sorely mistaken. It barely took two days after their return for Lucifer to strike again, making Sam and Kevin giggle maniacally as Dean sat down on a whoopee cushion in the kitchen, coffee in hand and spilling all over him as he jumped back up, startled out of his morning stupor.

A week later, Sam heard Kevin and Castiel snickering into their takeout and looked up to see Dean waking up from his slumped place at the table, a well defined dick drawn crudely on his forehead. Sam was only slightly perturbed that he didn't remember ever reaching across to draw it, himself or Luce. When Charlie spontaneously arrived the next day, the outline was still on Dean's skin, and she nearly fell on the floor laughing when she saw him. Dean had looked angry at first, but when he saw Cas still chuckling about it, he ended up smiling.

Charlie also took the news about Lucifer pretty well, though later that night as they were sitting down to eat, she leaned over to Sam and whispered, “I didn't know you liked guys too.”

Sam just shrugged. “It might be just the one. Technically he doesn't even have a gender.”

“Cool,” Charlie muttered with her eyebrows raised. “So is he actually evil? You know, 'cause he's the devil and all that jazz.”

“Only to Dean,” Sam laughed. She looked confused for a moment and Sam pointed to his forehead, turning his eyes to his brother quickly.

Realization must have hit her because she suddenly choked, “Ha! That was—wow, classic!” She laughed a moment with squinted eyes.

“Thank you,” Lucifer told her with a half bow, smiling.

Charlie stopped and pulled back. “Wait, is that...?”

Sam turned away to actually take a seat, nodding. “Yeah, we often switch back and forth. You'll probably get used to it eventually.”

With wide eyes, she sat as well, mumbling, “Huh,” under her breath.

. . .

Hunts were a joke anymore it seemed, when you had the devil himself on your side of the fight. Within two weeks, Sam and Dean had cleared out two vampire nests, one rampaging werewolf, a rogue witch killing people for money, and some sort of swamp monster that Dean didn't even want to get near and let Sam take the lead, Lucifer knocking the thing out in three seconds flat. Really, it was advantageous in a lot of ways, having a seasoned hunter with the power of an archangel? Nothing was better. But Sam could always feel his brother's eyes watching carefully and he and Luce were getting a bit tired of the scrutiny, ready to be separate again. Though that brought about a whole other problem.

. . .

“No, I've never heard of grace being stolen directly from a vessel. I suppose it doesn't surprise me that it's possible, but I'd never thought of it,” Lucifer was saying to Castiel. They sat across from each other in the library, Kevin beside Luce so that he and Sam could continue translating an ancient Latin text, trying to find anything that might be of some help.

Cas shook his head, watching as Sam's hand moved across the paper before him, head tilted down, even though it was Lucifer who was speaking with him. “I hadn't heard of it either. I should have known not to trust Metatron.”

“I wouldn't have thought that spineless creature would have it in him,” Lucifer muttered.

Sam lifted his head, eyes soft. “It's okay Cas, we'll figure this out eventually.”

With a faint smile, Cas nodded. “Thank you, Sam.” He glanced towards Kevin, who was tapping a pencil to his lip. “Are you finding anything useful in that book?”

Shaking his head, Sam looked down again. “No. So far, it's just been a bunch of crap.”

“Well, there was one part that was interesting, but not useful in the least,” Lucifer added.

“It was only interesting because it was about you,” Sam said with a laugh.

“Exactly!”

“Jesus Christ do you two realize how creepy that is?” Dean's voice suddenly made them all look up as he entered the room.

“No,” they answered, not sure which one actually answered. If they had been in separate bodies, Sam was sure they would have looked at each other and laughed, but as it was they just sent silent amused feelings to each other.

Dean just grimaced and plopped down beside Cas. “How much longer is this gonna be, anyway? It's like every day you get more and more weird.”

“It's only weird to you,” Sam told him mildly.

“Actually it is a little weird,” Kevin piped up, glancing at him sheepishly.

Gesturing with one hand, Dean muttered, “See? I'm not the only one.”

“I probably could have left several days ago,” Lucifer suddenly said, “but I wanted to be sure that he'll be alright for a while still.”

“What?” Dean leaned forwards, arms on the table. “So you can leave now?”

Sam frowned. “You mean, he can return to his own body now.”

Dean flapped his hand. “That's what I meant. So? Are you sure he's okay now?” Slowly, Lucifer nodded. “Great! Then I'll be glad to see you get out of my brother.”

Neither Sam nor Lucifer spoke for a long moment, and Dean raised a brow, watching expectantly. Finally, Sam stood. “Give us a bit, alright?” He didn't allow any of the others to respond before he was walking away, heading to the storerooms and allowing Luce to silently direct them towards his other body.

_Sam?_ Luce asked softly

The human was unsure what to say, so he said nothing. Emotions were fighting within him and he didn't really know how he was supposed to feel. On one hand, they had been waiting for several months to be separate again, but Sam was so used to having the angel right with him wherever he went that it seemed almost wrong that he wouldn't have that anymore. He wouldn't have Luce's voice in his mind, he wouldn't be able to simply share thoughts or feelings, he wouldn't have Lucifer's grace behind his hands in a fight or under his skin when he lay in bed at night.

_I'm not leaving, Sam, you know that._ The angel's voice was a surprise to Sam and he sighed quietly.

_I know. It's just..._

_It's not forever, either. I'll need to do this again eventually if I want to stay on this plane indefinitely._

Lucifer was the voice of reason and Sam knew he had no need to be so worried about it all. So he nodded to himself and opened the door to the storeroom where Nick's body was being kept preserved. It felt a bit strange to Sam, having essentially a dead body in his basement, but he figured in his line of work that was the least weird thing. “Okay, so...” he mumbled, standing in the doorway and looking around in the darkness for a light switch.

_Just close your eyes,_ Luce told him. Sam stilled and complied, shoulders tense. He felt a calming touch on his mind before he was pushed aside as Lucifer left him. Stumbling slightly, Sam caught himself on the wall with one hand, feeling vaguely empty and oddly warm.

Everything was dark and Sam slowly realized it was because he still had his eyes screwed shut. As he tried to blink them open and stand up a little straighter, hand still supporting him on the wall, he felt a touch on his cheek and whipped his head up to see Luce looking at him with familiar blue eyes. The angel was smiling and Sam immediately threw his arms around Lucifer, hugging him tightly,

“Missed me?” Luce asked, half laughing.

Sam pulled away to grin at him. “Yeah,” he replied, pressing a kiss to the angel's mouth. “Come on, let's go back up.” Taking his hand, the hunter went to leave the room.

“Actually,” Lucifer started, making Sam stop. “I have one last thing I want to do. You go ahead and stall them for a few minutes. And see if Charlie's up, she won't want to miss this.”

Sam had a confused look on his face but let the angel slip away before making his way back to the library, his brow furrowed and his steps heavy. Kevin looked up first when he returned, Dean and Cas deep in conversation and Charlie sleepily entering from the other side, rubbing her eyes.

“What's going on?” the redhead asked in a mumble, collapsing beside Kevin. “I heard something weird.”

“Sam, you're back to normal!” Kevin exclaimed, then his shoulders sunk and his eyes got wide. “I—I mean you look—you don't have anything weird in you now.”

Sam smiled and moved to pat his shoulder. “It's okay, Kev. Yeah, Luce is back in his other body now.”

“So where's the bastard at?” Dean asked, turning away from Cas.

With bitch face number 361, Sam looked at his brother and said, “He had something he needed to do but he'll be back soon.”

Dean made a face back. “Something he needed to do? Like what?”

“Maybe he needed to pee,” Charlie grumbled, her head on the table and hair covering her face.

“He's a celestial being, I doubt that—”

“Cas, she's joking,” Dean muttered, though a smile was playing at his lips.

Suddenly, they all heard a voice say, “I had to get something,” from the entryway and turned to see Lucifer.

“Get what?” the elder Winchester asked, his arms crossing as the angel crossed the room to Sam.

“Just a little special something. For you, Dean, to be specific.” Dean's eyes narrowed and Luce laughed, his arm winding around Sam's waist. “It's nothing bad. Actually it's a bit of an apology and a request for a truce.”

Dean's response was a flat, “You only want a truce because now I can get you back without getting Sam.”

Lucifer smirked. “Whatever my reasons, there's a fresh pie waiting for you in the kitchen and it'd be a shame not to eat it fresh from an oven halfway across the world.”

Already standing, Dean grinned. “Pie?”

“Where'd you get it?” Sam asked, leading the way towards the kitchen, his brother at his heels.

“A little bakery in Paris that you heard about at some point. Just something I came across in your mind.” Sam frowned at his reply but before he could think of what to say, they were already at the kitchen and everyone had gathered behind them, Dean's excitement for pie contagious. The pie was sitting on the counter looking glorious and steaming and even Sam was looking forward to eating a slice.

Luce took a step forward, his foot sticking out just enough so that Dean, who wasn't paying attention and was heading to his apology pie, stubbed his toe on the angel's foot and stumbled forward. It was like a scene from a sitcom, where Dean was slowly falling, hands reaching out to catch himself, his mouth a perfect “o” though no sound was coming out. They all watched in horror as one hand landed on the counter and the other went directly into the pie.

Everything was silent as Dean straightened.

Slowly, very slowly, Dean turned to Lucifer, his face drawn into a malicious frown that had Luce bursting out laughing in less than a second, holding his side and squinting at the glower the eldest Winchester was aiming at him. Sam watched his brother remove his hand from the pie, dripping with filling and looking at it with a blank face. Suddenly, he reached out and wiped his palm across the laughing archangel's face, effectively shutting him up. For a moment, Lucifer was still, but then he turned the most murderous look on Dean and the smile that had been starting to form on the man's face fell into oblivion. Nobody moved for a long few seconds.

All of a sudden a breathless laugh fell from Sam's lips and Lucifer's face transformed into an amused grin. Then everyone was laughing, Cas chuckling into his hand and Kevin tilting his face back, arms around his stomach. Sam had to clutch the edge of the table and he felt Charlie leaning against him, shaking. Dean was leaning with one elbow on the counter, his pie covered hand held up to avoid dripping on the floor. Lucifer had fallen to sit at the table, arms crossed and his head shaking side to side, snickering. He tried to get the pie off his cheek with one hand, but ended up giving up until Sam moved to grab a towel and sat beside him to wipe it off, still giggling.

“Goddammit!” Dean laughed. “I wanted to eat that you bastard.”

“I'll get you another one,” Luce told him, eyes bright as he smiled at Sam. The hunter was still shaking a bit from laughter but he couldn't stop himself leaning forward to capture the angel's lips in a kiss that was all smiles and sunshine and filled Sam's heart until he was sure he would burst.

“Aww, look at them,” Charlie cooed, making Sam glance back to see her phone out as she took a picture of them.

He just laughed, turned back, and kissed Lucifer again, happy with his family together. With them, he knew there were many more laughs to be had and pies to be eaten and he had his angel back once and for all. There wasn't much else he could ask for.

 

**Author's Note:**

> Anyway, that's the end! I want to thank everyone who has been with me through this series and also those who've found it along the way! This verse has been one of my favorites, which is why it went on sooooo long. But, as all things, it is time to come to an end. I'm so glad to have gotten all the wonderful feedback from y'all and I hope this ending satisfies! Thanks so much and look out for more of my Samifer/other fics.


End file.
